The company he co-founded, Ora Media, did not name the cause of death but media reports said King had been battling Covid-19 for weeks and had suffered a number of health problems recently. years.
King, with his trade hangers, black fringe glasses and deep voice, was famous for a 25-year run as a guest of a talk show on CNN’s “Larry King Live”.
“For 63 years and across radio, television, and digital media platforms, Larry’s thousands of interviews, awards, and world-renowned reputation stand as a testament to his unique and enduring talent as a broadcaster,” Ora Media said in the statement posted on Twitter.
King’s long list of interviewers ranged from all 1974 U.S. presidents, world leaders Yasser Arafat and Vladimir Putin, and celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and Barbra Streisand.
In the last emotional show “Larry King Live” in 2010, a tribute included a man from President Barack Obama, who was in a video message calling King “one of the broadcast giants”.
Roots radio
Obedience from the media, politicians and Hollywood stars was poured in, led by Putin, who asserted “great professionalism and unquestioning journalism authority,” according to the Kremlin.
Former CNN foreign journalist Christiane Amanpour remembered King as “a broadcast giant and a master of the famous TV / state interview.”
Star Trek icon and social media personality George Takei noted King ‘s understanding of “human influence and weakness just as well,” while Kirstie Alley, of Cheers’ reputation, described him as “one of the -one chat chat guests who let you talk. “
Piers Morgan and Craig Ferguson host British TV, both of which have been shown in the US, praising King ‘s interview skills.
“Larry King was a hero to me until we fell out after I took his place at CNN & he said my show was‘ like watching your mother-in-law go over a cliff in your new Bentley. ‘ (He married 8 times like a mother-in-law expert), “Morgan said.
“But he was a great broadcaster & a handsome TV interviewer.”
Lawrence Harvey Zeiger was born on November 19, 1933, to poor Jewish immigrants in the Brooklyn working class, New York, King says he never wanted to be anything but a radio broadcaster.
At the age of 23 he went to Florida to try to find work.
He became a disc-jockey for Miami radio station in 1957, changing his name to King when the radio manager told him he was “too racist”.
For another Miami Beach radio station he recorded programs in a restaurant, doing live interviews with listeners.
In 1978 he went to Washington where he put on a national radio call-in show, before being watched by CNN, a channel founded in 1980, which he hired for its overnight programming. in 1985.
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Million viewers
“Larry King Live”, which ran from 1985-2010, aired six nights a week to over 200 countries. CNN puts its total interviews at 30,000.
At the height of its success the show attracted more than a million viewers each night, making King the star of cable television, behind which it set an annual salary of over $ 7 million.
Structured in two parts, the show opened with King, usually in his signature rolled-up shirt and multi-colored ties, interviewing the guests in his relaxed style.
In the second part of the show the guest answered questions submitted by viewers from all over the world.
“I have no agenda. I will not accept the answer,” King told the Miami Herald in 2017 about his approach at work. “I never learned anything when I spoke. Listening is so important,” he said.
While critics thought his interview style was too soft, others saw it as a key to King’s application, attracting so many star guests to his show and helping CNN establish itself. with the scoops he won.
“I’m not interested in embarrassment (guests) and I’m not interested in sucking them,” he told AFP in 1995. “I’m just curious.”
The show goes on
After CNN King continued to do interviews on his own website and then, in 2013, he hosted a new show, “Larry King Now,” on Russia Today, a Russian international television network that is funded by the government.
His private life has also been colorful: after 22 years of marriage he divorced his seventh wife Shawn Southwick in 2019, after filing eight times for divorce – he married one wife twice.
“Instead of a blessing, what about so long?” he said, voice breaking, as he signed from his show that made him famous.